


Something unexpected

by Tinydancer220



Category: Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort, happy endings, life post war
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:15:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28476021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinydancer220/pseuds/Tinydancer220
Summary: I don’t want to give away too much because it would take away from the suspense that is supposed to be built up in the first chapter.Wanna keep y’all guessing 😜ALSO: HAPPY 2021 B**CHES
Relationships: Jojo Betzler & Elsa Korr, Jojo Betzler & Rosie Betzler, Jojo Betzler & his dad
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

There was a knock at the door. 

An unmistakable knock. 

The signature knock of only one specific person...

_ Knock, knock-knock-knock.  _

He instantly felt something in his chest. Something urgent. Something screaming... _familiarity_. 

C ould...could it be? Could it  _ really  _ be? 

_No, no way...I would’ve heard that kick months ago. Can’t be._

But still, Jojo wanted to answer the door. 

It must’ve been awfully late. He didn’t know how late, but late. He and Elsa had gone to their rooms quite long ago. It was one of those nights that Jojo found himself lying awake for what felt like hours, too distracted by his own thoughts to fall asleep. 

He flipped the covers o ff himself and swung his feet over the bed. He stood and limped over to the doorway, making his way out into the corridor. He reached Elsa’s room, and peered inside. Fast asleep. He remembered her mentioning once before that if anyone came to the door past a certain time, not to answer without her. 

Seeing how she was out cold, he didn’t want to disturb her. He turned back around to go back to his room. It was probably nothing. Anyway, who’d be knocking at this hour?

Ever so suddenly, he felt a pang. A certain pang accompanied by an certain thought, too. 

The moment he turned around, he instantly visualized his mother. She was saying something very clearly. 

_ “It’s alright, Jojo.” _

It was a simple message. It was rather vague, too. But for some reason, he immediately had a feeling that he should definitely go to the door.He could barely explain it, and he knew it sounded crazy, but he just  knew that he had to go. He  knew it was safe. 

_ Knock, knock-knock-knock.  _

Again . 

And with that, he turned back around and headed for the stairway. 

He treaded down the steps, hearing the rickety sound that the old staircase was making. He slowed down a bit to avoid waking Elsa. As he stepped, he wondered,  _ who could that be? What if it’s not actually safe? What if I’m just crazy? _

But still, he continued. 

Finally, he reached the bottom step and walked over to the door. He could hear heavy rain outside. 

He stood directly in front of the door, and slowly brought his hand to the handle. He let it linger for a second. Without further procrastination, he swiftly turned the knob and swung open the door. 

Without delay, his eyes widened and his breath was whisked away as if it had been stolen. 

It took him a moment to regain his ability to speak before uttering in unbelief, 

“...Dad?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Picks up were the last chapter left off

“...Dad?”

He looked at his Father’s face. He looked different from what he remembered him as, years ago, but at the same time he was just the same. His once youthful skin had aged somewhat, his once completely dark brown hair had become salt and peppery at the sideburns from the stress he endured for the last six years, and his eyes had a tired look about them as opposed to the energetic-ness that they once retained. But his eyebrows still furrowed the way they always used to when he was anticipating something, he still had the smile lines formed from the outer corners of the eyes that naturally came with being a jovial soul, and he still had the same kind eyes that radiated such warmth whenever you looked into them. He was still the same  _Dad_ that he remembered so dearly. He was _his_ Dad. 

His father released a sigh of relief that he seemed to have been holding in since he knocked on that front door. His eyes were shining with tears that had welled up the moment he saw his son. 

“Jojo.” He said as his voice cracked. 

He dropped his suitcase and fell to his knees, Jojo doing the same as they both grabbed hold of each other in the tightest embrace either of them had ever experienced. 

They stuck to each other like glue for the some time, weeping over how much they had missed each other. Truth be told, neither had any real confidence that they’d ever see each other again. And yet here they were, on the foyer floor at possibly 1 AM, reunited for the first time in years.

He grabbed JoJo by the shoulders with his hands and gently moved him back slightly to take a look at him. He slowly shook his head in amazement as he looked at his son.

“My God, I can’t believe how _big_ you’ve gotten. So much bigger than the little boy I remember. You’ve gotten taller, your hair still has the same ruffle to it but it’s gotten even blonder,” he said as he ruffled his hair with one hand.

“And oh, you’ve gotten _even_ handsomer somehow, and—wait, what happened to your face?”

“Oh. Uh...Nazi camp. Long story. I’m okay now. I’ll tell you another time.”

His father squinted his eyes a bit. 

_yep, definitely going to get interrogated about this tomorrow._

“Hmm. Alright then. At least your safe now.”

His expression softened to something of a longing look and he sighed. 

“Oh, Johannes, how I wish I could have seen you grow.”

His rough hand cupped the side of Jojo’s face. Jojo tilted his face into his touch. 

“Your here now, and your alive. We both are. That’s what matters now. And I have a lot more growing to do.”

His father smiled. It was the same warm smile that he’d known all his life. 

Suddenly, Jojo grimaced and moved his gaze to the floor. This was the part that he was _not_ looking forward to. 

“Um, Dad...there’s...something I have to tell you.”

He looked back up at his father, his eyes telling a story that he didn’t want to tell. 

His Father’s face dropped, and his eyebrows furrowed. 

he took a deep breath in, and said in an unstable voice, “I know about...your...mother and...” he closed his eyes. “And Inge.” He finished quietly. 

They both let out a sigh, and Jojo slowly leaned back into him and wrapped his arms around his father, resting his head on his chest. He enveloped Jojo in a secure hug with his strong arms, and cradled Jojo’s small frame.They didn’t speak, they didn’t even cry, they just stayed there in silence. They both knew that the best and only thing they could do in this moment was comfort each other, and that’s what they did. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Picks up were the last chapter left off. 
> 
> ALSO I found out that the fathers name is Paul. So he will be referred to as Paul now lol

They hugged each other for what felt like forever. They didn’t move, they didn’t cry, they didn’t even speak—they just held each other. They were just  there for each other. 

Eventually, silence had to be broken and Paul decided that he’d be the first one to do so. 

”Do you wanna hear a war story? I promised I’d come back with plenty of ‘em.”

Jojo’s head perked up and he looked up at his fathers face. “I forgot about that! Of course! But first let’s move to the couch. We’ve been on this floor for too long.”

They talked for hours about everything under the sun. It was like they were trying to make up for every lost conversation that should’ve taken place over the past six years.They told stories, talked about sports, and friends, and family, and hobbies, and anything else they could possibly think of. And of course, Jojo told Paul about Elsa. 

”Oh gosh Dad, there’s something I have to tell you about. So, during the war, Mamma was hiding a Jew upstairs—“

“Yes, I’ve known about it. She’s told me in our letters, we just had to use code so that if they checked our letters they wouldn’t suspect anything. I don’t know any details.”

“Oh alright, so you know, that’s good. So I found her one day, in the wall, and we both freaked out and everything, but 

we came to an agreement that we wouldn’t tell anyone that we had met. Even…Mama, never knew. I started going to see her every day, and at first I thought she must’ve been evil because she was a Jew and I was insanely brainwashed, but I started to realize that she was just a person. We ended up spending most of our time together, and we got really close. And then, since the war’s been over, we’ve been sticking together. We’re there for each other. You’ll have to meet her in the morning. I don’t wanna wake her now since it’ll be time to wake up pretty soon, but she’s great, Dad. She’s really, really great. You’ll love her.”

“Wow, I didn’t know any of that. Your face lights up when you talk about her.”

Jojo smiled. 

”Yeah. We’re like siblings. Except we actually get along most of the time.”

“How old is she?”

“17. Well, she’ll be 18 in a few months.”

“Well, I can’t wait to meet her. I’m happy to hear that you’ve had somebody this whole time.”

“Yeah.” He said in deep thought. 

“Well, should get to bed. Get some sleep well you still can. It’s 4 in the morning now.”

“But I want to talk to you more.”

“Soon it’ll be morning and we’ll have all day and all the time in the world to talk. Right now though, you need some rest. I need some too.”

And with that, they said they’re good nights and Jojo went back to his room and try to sleep, even though he knew it’d be nearly impossible to go to sleep now. Paul laid down right where he was sitting, and was out quicker than a light. For him, the will to sleep is difficult to come by, but his body is just so sleep deprived that it naturally gave in and knocked him right out. 

~~~~~~~3 hours later~~~~~~~

it was 7 AM, and Elsa Korr was up, dressed, and ready for the day. As she walked down the stairs, she thought she heard rustling in the kitchen, but wrote it off thinking it was something else. Still, she wanted to be cautious, so when she got to the bottom of the stairs she glanced around to see if she could find anything to bring with her as defense just in case. The oddest thing caught her eye, and that was a frying pan which was resting on the little end table next to the front door. 

_Why on earth do we have frying pan on the—you know what whatever, I’ve seen much weirder in this house._

She picked it up and walked over to the kitchen, mostly expecting to see nothing when she arrived. She reached the kitchen, and when she saw a strange man in the corner drinking a glass of water she nearly jumped out of her skin. Elsa shrieked, hastily fumbling with the frying pan before grasping it in a in a sword fighting position, And screamed,

“WHO ARE YOU?! I SWEAR I’LL MAKE YOU WISH YOU WEREN’T HERE!”


	4. ANNOUNCEMENT

I just had an idea. So if you’ve seen my first Jojo rabbit fanfic which takes place before this one, and you know it is currently one shot. However, I’ve got an idea. I think what I might do is I might continue that one and it will lead up to this fanfic. And I’ll put that one and this fanfic into a series. I MIGHT. So keep an eye on my fanfic, “we’re gonna be all right“ and stay tuned because I will probably be uploading to that one for a bit and then I will continue with this one so it’ll make more sense. 

Or I don’t know – maybe I’ll upload to both of them at the same time? I don’t know. Just keep an eye out Lol

What do you guys think about that?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Picks up where the last chapter left off

“WHO ARE YOU?! I SWEAR I’LL MAKE YOU WISH YOU WEREN’T HERE!”

Paul quickly set the glass down on the counter and put his hands up in surrender. 

“I’m Jojo’s father! It’s okay, it’s okay!”

Elsa furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. 

_It can’t be Jojo’s father, he would’ve been back months ago._

“Elsa!” Jojo yelled from upstairs. She could hear the pitter-patter of his small feet running through the hallway and down the stairs as Elsa and Paul watched him appear inside the kitchen. 

“He’s my Dad, he came back last night. ‘Tsall good.” He said as he rushed over and stood next to him. 

She looked down at him, and then at Paul with a surprised look on her face, and let out a sigh of relief, lowering her military-grade frying pan. 

“Oh. Wow, I’m so sorry, I feel like such an idiot.” She said sheepishly as she scratched the back of her neck, her eyes still wide with shock. 

“Don’t, don’t, it’s fine. It would be odd if walking downstairs and finding a stranger in the kitchen _wouldn’t_ startle you.” Paul said reassuringly. 

“Dad, this is Elsa.” Jojo said as he walked over next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. 

“Ah, Elsa. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard lovely things about you.” Paul said as he took a step forward and offered his hand to shake. 

Paul’s friendly energy put Elsa at ease and within a minute, she was able to loosen up a bit. If there was one thing she was not expecting, it was Jojo’s father walking through the door six months after the war had ended. Though neither of them had ever said it, they were not at all confident that they’d see Paul  Betzler again.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, too. Jojo’s told me so much about you.” She said warmly as she shook his hand, broken free of most of the awkwardness. 

A moment or two of silence passed as everyone was taking in what was going on.

“Um, congratulations on...making it back.” Elsa said with a smile. 

“Thank you. I’m glad it worked out that way, too. For a while I wasn’t so sure if I would but...well, here I am.”

After another minute of silence, she said, “Well, I uh...I do have job that I have to get to shortly. I work at the little bakery a few blocks down.” Elsa said, gesturing to the direction she was referring to. 

“Pflüger’s? It’s still there?”

“Yah! And when Elsa goes to work there, she takes me with her and I usually sell apples or something out front.” Jojo exclaimed. 

“Where do you get the apples from?” Paul asked, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed casually. 

“Well, we were trying to think of ways to make a little more money, so we found this apple tree around here which is always full of them.”

“And when the apples go out of season, we find other things to sell. We’ll make things, we’ll paint paintings...we manage to make do.” Elsa added. 

“Sounds like you guys have been handling financial things not too badly. I’m impressed.”

Jojo looked up at Elsa, Elsa looked down at Jojo, and they smiled. 

“Yeah, not too bad.” Elsa said fondly to Jojo. 

“It’s all part of the GermanJew magic.” Jojo said humorously. 

Elsa giggled and said, “Yup! It certainly is!”

Paul had an amused grin on his face and asked, “The what?”

“Oh, there’s a whole history lesson with that one. We’ll tell you about it later.” Jojo said. 

“Definitely...well, I should be heading out now, don’t want to be too late. I was a bit late the other day...You two have great day together!”

“It was great to meet you, Elsa.” Paul said sigh a grin. 

“It was great to meet you too,  Mr. —“

“No, please, call me Paul.”

“Oh! Okay. It was great meeting you...Paul. And sorry again for the whole frying pan thing earlier.”

“No worries.” He replied genuinely with a snicker. 

She walked over to the door, and put on her coat and shoes before opening the door to walk out. 

“Alright, bye!” She yelled before shutting the door. 

“Bye!” The two called back in unison. 

After she left, Paul turned to Jojo. 

“She‘s very sweet. I like her.” 

“Yeah, I knew you would.” He responded happily. 

“It looks like you guys really care about each other.”

“Yah. Yah, we do.”

**Author's Note:**

> How did you like this? I definitely plan on continuing, but I’d like to know what people think too.


End file.
